Look at the way power & responsibility are distributed around society today and ask: can’t we do better? Welcome to ‘Question the Powerful’, a twice-monthly journal on politics & society. (For more information on Henry Tam and the Question the Powerful project, click on ‘The QTP Project’ under ‘Menu’).

Sunday, 2 March 2008

There is now more plastic in the oceans than plankton. Six times more in fact. And who’s producing all this stuff to choke our marine life to death, or any of the other environmentally damaging materials endlessly spewed into the seas and the atmosphere? It’s none other than the corporate giants who put their own profits above the interests of all who have to suffer the consequences of their irresponsible behaviour.

So when they think they can get away with the excessive packaging, energy consumption, and addictive consumerism they generate simply by planting a few trees or charging customers for the use of their plastic bags, it is not surprising that there is a surge of desire to call for someone to lead the charge against shameless corporate powers. Someone with a deep understanding of the harm they inflict on the public, a track record in challenging them to change their ways, and an inspiring resoluteness in standing up to them. Someone like, well, Ralph Nader.

Nader would not be deflected by tokenistic PR gestures, intimidated by the legal machines at the disposal of plutocrats, and certainly not bought off by potential corporate donors. So why, when he said he would stand in yet another Presidential race, have so many truly progressive-minded people shaken their heads in sadness?

The critical issue here is how we must avoid the dream of an ideal outcome getting in the way of something better ever coming to pass. Of course corporate business is now far too powerful in relation to workers and citizens in general. Whatever proposal to restrain them is put forward, it is always possible to suggest that more could be done, and faster. More regulations, tax deterrent, fines, and so on, but none of this would take effect if the public positions for deciding on such issues were always occupied by those least prepared to do anything about them.

Nader is not alone in thinking that the Democratic candidates for the Presidency have tended to be too cautious in challenging corporate hegemony. But to change that, we should make the case more effectively, more widely that political leadership to curb corporate irresponsibility is urgently needed. If we have yet to persuade enough of our fellow citizens to demand the leadership we believe is needed, it would be counter-productive to embark on a course of action which would only increase the probability of the Presidential contest being won by the most pro-corporate candidate there is.

Why jeopardize what reforms we could realistically secure by taking votes away from the candidate who would indisputably do more than whoever the standard-bearer for the corporate establishment is? What would a futile gesture do, except leaving people worse off than they otherwise would? Radical agitators once believed that it was better to hamper moderate reformers so that their failures would usher in much more unbearable conditions, and the people would rise up to demand revolutionary changes. History has taught us that it was a fool’s dream.

None of us wants to see our oceans turned into a global corporate cesspool. To clean up this mess, we must forget futile gestures and PR exercises – especially when they would only weaken our closest allies and lend false legitimacy to the polluters. We should concentrate on raising public awareness of the need to reform so that those with a real chance of winning public office can count on a widening base of support to rein in the corporate abuse of power.